Outside
by BlindDestiny
Summary: There's something strangely comforting about being snatched away by a pair of giant hands... LeviHan oneshot


**Outside**

The air outside the Walls always has a certain flavor. Whether it's the openness, the solitude, or simply the danger— it tastes cleaner in the lungs. It's teeming with electricity.

Hanji pulls in a deep breath of the outside air. Yeah, it's something different.

The danger of it all hasn't amounted to much yet, though. She, Levi, and three volunteers from her own squad have been riding along this path between Wall Rose and Wall Maria for hours and they haven't run across a single titan. Hanji frowns atop her galloping horse. It's so disappointing. Titans are the only reason she enjoys going on these excursions.

However, travelling with the smaller group of five proved to be working well—especially for their purposes. On this outing, they're nothing more than a non-combative exploration team searching for a quick and easy path to Shiganshina. The smaller numbers make things simpler, and, if anything goes wrong, the casualties will be a lot less than if the entire Corps had set out. As morbid as that sounds.

Hanji looks to her right and sees Levi in the distance. The group is spread so far apart that he's the only one she can clearly make out. Having both her and Levi out on this mission was risky, but she'd insisted on coming. She didn't care. Any opportunity to go outside the walls. She is a scientist, after all. There's no room for hesitation.

A cool breeze sweeps across her face from the open sky. It smells of rain. There's a dark storm peeking over the horizon. If they want to beat it back to the Wall, they'll have to turn around soon. They must be half-way to Wall Maria by now. Close to it, at least. Hanji looks back to Levi just as he raises his arm in the air to release a yellow smoke flare. Rest stop. She smiles, loading a similar flare into her own gun and setting it off above her head. Soon there are five thin streams of yellow reaching into the sky like spindly fingers. The formation of soldiers collapses into the center to take a break and discuss their options.

"There's a storm coming from the west." Levi mutters before the last soldier even makes it over to them. "You can hear it from here. Must be bad."

Hanji steals a glance at the storm from over her shoulder. "Hm. The clouds have a green tint. That's a bad sign."

"I'll have to take your word on that, Glasses, because I really don't give a shit. I just prefer to not be covered in rain, mud, and horse shit."

Hanji grins, "You're two for two with shitty sentences."

Levi merely gives her a sidelong glance. "We're heading back. The weather isn't cooperating. Fighting titans in a storm is not something I plan on doing. Erwin will probably bitch that we were only able to get this far, but I don't give a shit about that either."

Hanji throws her head back at that. "There we go!"

"Return to formation. We're going back," Levi finishes and rides off, leading the charge back towards Wall Rose. Hanji and the others fall into step and return to their positions without argument.

They ride for a long while, the storm gaining on them all the time. They don't let up, though. They can't afford to. Being caught in a storm outside the Walls is as good as a death sentence.

Hanji takes note of the small wood of giant trees to her left. According to memory, since they're just passing the trees, they're still several kilometers from the Wall. They have another hour of riding left, at least.

The pop of a flare gun sounds from the far side of the formation and Hanji's heart sinks. A tower of red smoke cuts through the sky. Titan sighting. The second flare sounds a few seconds later, but it's angled strangely. It's like whoever fired it was too terrified to aim it in the air, so it flies off to the side and the smoke hovers close to the ground. No, Hanji thought, that couldn't be it. She and Levi had hand-picked this team. There's no way they'd be too scared to aim a flare. That means that they _couldn't_ aim it.

She swallows thickly. The group is small, but they're spread so thin that she can't see what's happening on the other end. She can only imagine. Yet part of her is upset that she's not where the action is. The research opportunities are endless! The others will just avoid or cut down the titans without so much as a second glance. What a waste.

Finally, Levi responds with a green flare pointed in the opposite direction of the titans. Hanji redirects herself accordingly. Not ten seconds later, she spots movement out of the corner of her eye. Another titan—no, group of titans—is scurrying towards the group on her side as well. They're stumbling from beneath the shade of the giant trees. She allows herself the time it takes to get a good look at them, and no more. One of them has a tremendous head, another is galloping on all fours, while another's nose completely dominates its face. The rest are either ordinary-looking or too far off to see. She doesn't waste another second as she loads the red flare into her gun and fires it into the sky.

She could've sworn that she heard Levi say "Shit," almost immediately. It doesn't take long for her to figure out why. While she was studying the titans closing in on her side, more red flares were sent hanging above the other end as well. They're surrounded, then. Great.

Levi shoots another flare above his head, yellow this time. Instead of a rest stop, this signaled a falling in—a complete breakdown of their formation. Hanji gives the titans one last glace from over her shoulder as she moves towards the center. They're slow and awkward. Perfect for getting away.

When Hanji reaches Levi's side, she can see the horde of titans coming from the other end. There's so many of them. Some of them are still running towards them. They're so fast.

She doesn't see any more horses.

"Where's-" she starts, despite already knowing the answer.

Levi responds anyway. "Overwhelmed, looks like… _Shit_," she hears him shout over the sound of galloping hooves. "We're the only ones left, Glasses. I _told_ Erwin this idea was too bold to be considered anything but stupid."

Hanji's teeth clench together. Three casualties already and they were still surrounded. Could they outrun an entire horde of titans with just their horses?

As if to answer her, one of the far titans is suddenly barreling head-first towards them. "_Move!_" Levi booms, jerking on the reigns of his horse. Hanji does the same. They split apart just in time for the titan to land on the space they'd just occupied. It slams its hands onto the ground as it comes down, sending out a massive shockwave. The dirt, grass, and rocks beneath Hanji's horse rupture and turn to rubble. She's still trying to regain control of the horse when a second titan slaps its giant hand onto the ground beside her—reaching for her.

The horse is going wild. It's no longer obeying Hanji's grip on the reigns. She tries to speak calmly to it, but there are at least two titans directly behind them and she can't convince herself to be calm, let alone the horse.

Then the zing of metal wire sounds above her head. She cranes her neck back just as Levi flies over and puts down the two titans that were pursuing her. "There's nothing for it. Looks like we'll have to fight some of them off first." There are still plenty of titans swarming around them as Levi jets off again, using the titans themselves as anchors for his maneuver gear.

Hanji grins and brings her feet up to stand on her saddle. "Now the real fun starts!" She sets her eyes on the nearest titan, an unimpressive four-meter class, and fires herself towards it. The horse continues on. She eases up on the throttle on her left side so she swings wide to the right. Then up. She sends her blades crashing into the nape of the titan's neck. It's over in a flash.

She doesn't dwell on it, though. She can't. She picks out another titan and goes for it before her mind can convince her otherwise.

She loses count of how many titans she brings down, as well as how many close-calls she has, in the process. She's already gone through five pairs of blades. When there's a lull in the battle, she stops in the grass to drop the dulled blades and click her last two into their hilts. She looks back up with a sigh. There are still so many.

Allowing herself to think was probably her biggest mistake.

One of the titans lumbers dumbly towards Hanji and her eyes immediately light up. It's a seven meter class with a bright tuft of hair, hunched back, and turned-in feet. Beneath its bulging eyes is a square jaw that's perpetually hanging open, where phlegm and goo dribble out and land on its clumsy feet.

Hanji clasps her hands together and makes a sort of delighted shriek. "Look at you!" she squeals. "You're absolutely _gorgeous_!"

The hunched titan swipes at her with a slow, thin hand.

She jumps back with a laugh. "Whoa! Easy there, big guy! We should really get to know each other first!"

Its response is a huge glob of spittle falling from its chin and splashing onto the grass.

"Oh, if only I could get you back inside the Wall!" she drools. "I have so many wonderful experiments I'd love for you to be a part of!"

"_Pay attention, you damn Four-Eyes!_" Levi suddenly roars over the cacophony. Hanji looks over her shoulder to see a second titan's bulbous fingers closing in on her. Instantly, her smile switches off and she goes for her blades. She slices the titan's fingers off with a clean little twirl. But the titan's faster than he looks, and Hanji barely registers his other hand swooping towards her before Levi yells again.

This time he calls her by name.

Her arms instinctively hold her still-bloodied swords in front of her body. Her eyes clamp shut and she waits for impact.

The sound of reeling wires. The ring of blades. Thunder creeping closer. The thumps of giant footsteps. An enormous crash. The distinct pop of bone.

It all happens so quickly.

Hanji slowly opens her eyes. Both of the titans around her are felled, but Levi is crouched before her, clutching his arm. "Levi," she blinks dumbly at him. "Oh, your arm—"

"It's nothing. I can keep going."

"But Levi—"

He ignores her and stands up, rolling his shoulder. It takes all he has not to flinch. More titans are lumbering towards them, and he knows he has no choice. Every step he takes away from Hanji sears through his wound. He pulls a breath through his teeth. His shoulder is absolutely throbbing. It's probably dislocated. He can hardly squeeze the trigger on his maneuver gear, let alone lift his arm to swing the blade. But it doesn't matter. He has to fight—there's no other option. With a grunt, he releases the hooks of his gear to swing up to the closest titan. They bury themselves into the thick hide of the titan's back and the wire begins to reel him in. He hopes that his speed will give him the edge that he needs.

He winces as he brings the blades up in midflight, poised to slice into the nape. By the time he hears Hanji shouting his name, it's too late.

Its shadow falls over him first. He gazes up at an airborne titan with wide, horrified eyes. The aberrant passes over with its knees drawn up beneath its chin, as if it has just leaped into the air. It must've done just that, since it lands between Levi and the titan that was previously his target. One of its feet lands on the wires of his maneuver gear and slams them into the ground, hurtling Levi forward with no means of control. Humanity's Strongest Soldier sees the aberrant's ugly, drooping face just before it raises its giant hand and swats him right out of the air. Levi's entire world goes black.

The impact of the titan's hand is so much that his gear breaks away from his body and falls to the ground. Meanwhile, Levi is sent soaring with spurts of blood trailing behind him. Hanji can't even breathe as he lands, bouncing off of the ground like a ragdoll. That's when she loses all of the feeling in her hands. Her vision goes completely white—except for the silhouette of Levi lying in a heap of his own limbs. She dodges the approaching hands and feet on an unconscious level. All she knows is that she has to reach him. As long as she can do that, everything will be fine.

She shouts his name again as she skids to a stop nearby. The horde of titans is not too far away, so she has to hurry. But when she sees the state he's in she falls to her knees. His right leg is bent at an unnatural angle, and his hair is thick and matted with his own blood. Hanji carefully turns him over and sees the large gash cut into the side of his head. A nearby rock is coated in blood and chunks of his scalp. He's completely unconscious, but he's still breathing. He's still alive.

But Hanji can't allow herself to be relived yet. A booming thud from behind reminds her of that. The blind adrenaline kicks in again and she snatches Levi in her arms. The Forest of Giant Trees is their only hope of survival. She deftly maneuvers around the approaching titans and uses her gear to launch herself and Levi towards one of the large, lower branches of the trees. The gas supply sputters as she reaches the branch. It's almost gone. Hanji clicks her tongue. She wasted too much of it getting to Levi and outrunning the titans. Even so, she still manages to haul them both onto the branch, out of the titans' reach.

A gust of wind moves through the forest, and it's thick with the smell of rain. A rumble in the distance signals the oncoming storm. They will have to take refuge here for now. Titans begin to gather at the base of the tree.

She gingerly lays Levi onto the center of the branch, unbuttoning his Survey Corps cloak to better see the damage. He's still unconscious and his wounds are bleeding terribly. Hanji does the first and only thing she can think to do: She loosens and removes Levi's cravat from around his neck and begins tearing it to shreds. She wraps the first few strips around his head to soak up some of the blood. His hair is drenched in it, and so too become her hands. Next, she carefully sets Levi's broken leg into what she hopes is a better position. Then she uses her paring blades to chop off some pieces of tree bark to use as a splint. She secures the pieces with more shreds of his cravat.

The titans linger at the bottom of the tree. She can hear them clawing up at her with starving eyes and drooling mouths.

She shuts those thoughts from her mind. Her hands bashfully make their way over the rest of Levi's body, checking for more, less-obvious wounds. He has several broken ribs, but nothing else that she can find or treat. She watches the twitching at his collar bones, the strain of the muscles in his neck. Pieces of him that feel so suddenly exposed since she removed his cravat. His breathing is quick and shallow and his eyes are screwed shut, contorting his usually aloof face. Hanji adjusts her glasses and lets a sigh drop from her chest.

Now there was only one thing left: How were they going to get out of this mess and back to Wall Rose?

Minutes pass with Hanji looking out over the horizon. She watches as the sun dips below the swirling clouds above. It should start raining any second now. Just in time for the sun to set. Perfect.

The fading sunlight glares off of her glasses as she turns her gaze downward. The horde of titans is still there, of course. They'll always be there. They were tenacious that way. Then her eyes catch the drooping face of the aberrant that injured Levi and her chest grows hot. Before she had become fascinated with the titans, she had loathed them. She loved nothing more than dicing them up into little pieces and kicking them around like steaming rocks. She never thought she could feel that kind of rage bubble up within her again, but one look at that titan makes it all wash over her. Her hands tremble at her sides and her vision blurs with tears. She's about to leap from her perch and crash her swords through the aberrant's neck when Levi groans. The world comes back into focus. She looks down at his suspiciously calm face and the heat in her chest dissipates. She can't lose control over herself now.

Levi's chest continues to rise and fall, so she knows he's still breathing, at least. The fact that his face is no longer twisted with pain could either be a good or a bad sign. Hanji has no idea which it could be. She hopes for the best and looks back out towards the open plain.

This time, however, her eyes catch something besides the titans. The falling sun still has enough power to show her the way. Levi's broken maneuver gear gleams at her from the distance. It's still splayed out on the grass where it fell from his unconscious and airborne body. Hanji can't help but wonder how much gas he had left.

It's crazy to think about—she knows that. But still, it's their only chance. There's no way they could make it back to Wall Rose without the help of maneuver gear, and her gas canisters are all but depleted. But Levi's…

There's about twenty or so titans still sprawling at the base of their tree. If she leaves this spot, many of them will follow. Not to mention that as soon as she leaves, she'll be out of gas. She'll have to get to that gear or she'll have no way back up to the safety of the tree. If she took the chance, she had to do it. She would have to see it through. Otherwise, she'll be torn limb from limb and devoured. And perhaps even worse, Humanity's Strongest Soldier will be left to die, unconscious and bleeding on the branch of a giant tree.

She takes a deep breath of the crisp, rain-chilled air. She has to do it. It's their only chance of getting out of this mess alive. If she fails, they both die—but if she succeeds… they still might die, but their odds are better. At least, that's what she tells herself. It certainly helps keep her hands from shaking.

She takes another peek at the setting sun. It's getting lower and lower. It will probably be gone in about ten minutes, so she has to act now. She'd never be able to find the gear, let alone defend against titans in the dark. And with this storm still brewing, it's looking to be a very dark night indeed.

Hanji takes another breath. She doesn't even think about it anymore.

A strong blast of wind rips through the trees, rumbling their branch and sending leaves spiraling all around them. The storm is close. She has to do this. Her hands instinctively go to Levi—specifically the leather straps that are bound all over his body. He won't need them to guide his maneuver gear anytime soon. She unlatches a few of the smaller straps, more towards the extremities, and rearranges them around his torso. Once she tightens them again, she unlatches one of the thicker, main straps from behind his back and pulls it as far as it will go. She sticks one of her own swords into the branch near Levi's side, making sure to bury it deep, and releases the blade. Now she only has one. A proper sacrifice, she's sure. She knots the leather strap around the dull edge of the blade, securing Levi in place. She tugs on it a few times to make sure it's solid.

It's just a precaution, anyway. Just to keep him on that branch. Just to be safe.

Hanji turns back to where Levi's maneuver gear lies temptingly in the distance. It shines directly into her eyes. Her hands tighten around the controls of her own gear, sporting only a single blade. There's a clap of thunder to her right, closer than ever. The sound of the titans clawing at the bark of the tree is overpowered for a few moments. She steels herself, shuts her eyes, and lets out a long, slow breath.

And then she's swinging through the air, over the heads of the titans below, and falling a few meters behind them. She feels her gear completely run out of gas right before she hits the ground. She doesn't even look back at the monsters she knows are heading towards her. She runs to the discarded gear as fast as she's able, meanwhile she fumbles with the now empty gas canisters by her side. She loosens them as she goes. They eventually clatter out of their holsters. Her eyes never lift from her goal. Finally, she reaches the gear and drops to her knees.

The propulsion mechanisms are in shambles, and the support work is warped and snapped in several places. However, when she pulls the canisters out, she finds that they're both salvageable—and with a bit of gas still left in them too.

She can't stop the smile from breaking across her face. She holds the canisters up to the sky and laughs just as first droplets of rain begin to fall around her.

But she can't celebrate yet. She reminds herself just as a heavy thud sounds uncomfortably close behind her. She whips her head around to see a droopy-faced, crouching titan. It's the abnormal. He aims himself at her. Hanji gasps and scrambles to her feet. The aberrant's powerful legs dig into the earth as he lunges, open-mouthed and straight for her. Hanji is quick enough to escape death, but her left leg remains in the path of the titan and he barrels past. His skull skims by her, knocking her leg out and away from her. She feels the tear of fabric and holds the canisters close to her chest as the world spins around her. She slams into the ground and stars burst behind her eyes. One of the lenses of her glasses break. The rain comes harder. As soon as she lands, though, she struggles to place the gas canisters into her gear so she can make her escape. More, slower titans are beginning to gather around her, but she ignores them. Her leg is racked with pins and needles, but she ignores it too. The fabric of her pants is completely intact, despite how she felt it tear, but again, she ignores it. All that matters is procuring the fuel.

At last, the second canister clicks into place, just in time for the aberrant to reorient himself and aim for her once more. This time, she allows the heat in her chest to take over and doesn't give him the chance. With a snap of her controls the hooks of her maneuver gear bury themselves deep into the aberrant's eyes. It jerks its head back like a reflex, but that only drags Hanji into the air without her having to use any more gas. She positions her only blade by her side and reels herself towards the titan's neck. Two quick spins, and a large slice of the titan's flesh bursts forth. The aberrant falls to the ground with a thump.

Hanji lands on its back, favoring her good leg, with a crazed smile pulling on her lips. "I'll tell you what, ugly. That face of yours, it sort of looks like you're melting." She chuckles to herself, relishing it. Since she only has one blade, it's difficult to say whether or not her blow was lethal, but for now, she's happy with it. The other titans are still approaching, but she can't find it in herself to care too much about them. There's only this abnormal. The one that messed everything up.

The rain comes down in sheets. She can barely make out the giant trees, even though they're fairly close by. The other titans that chased after her are close enough to reach for her, so she figures she should make a run for it.

Her injured leg makes it a bit more complicated than she thought it would, but these titans were normal, and very slow in the overcast sky. She easily out-maneuvers them, dodges their grasping fingers and bumbling legs, and flies through the pelting rain towards safety. The taste of victory is still sweet on her tongue.

At last, she returns to the base of the giant tree and gets ready to propel herself up to the safe haven. Through one cracked and bloody lens she sees a small shape dangling from a lower branch. Its arms and legs hang uselessly as it sways in the heavy gusts. She realizes with a spark of dread that the form is Levi's, and all of her heat and jubilation drain away. She suddenly notices how her hair and clothes are plastered to her from the downpour, how heavy her legs are.

The strong winds must have blown Levi off of the branch— the straps she'd placed around him being the only things keeping him from plummeting thirty meters to the ground.

She uses far too much gas in her rush to pull herself up to the branch. Her clumsy fingers grip and tug at the single strap supporting all of Levi's weight. She can feel her heartbeat thundering in her head. It presses onto the inside of her eardrums. At this moment, there is no storm, there are no titans, and they aren't in the middle of lost territory. There's only her strength and her hands slowly hoisting Levi's unconscious body back onto the branch. It takes all of her concentration not to let the leather slip between her sweat, blood, and rain-soaked fingers.

After an eternity, her aching muscles manage to pull him back onto something solid. She sets him on his back and checks his wounds. The split she'd placed on his leg seems to be holding up, but the bandages on his head are already soaked through with blood. She takes the few shreds left of his cravat and begins to redress his injury when she notices that he's not breathing. It's as if someone had doused her with ice water. "No…" Her fingers fumble at his throat. His pulse is very faint, but it's still there. She banishes every thought and feeling to the back of her mind, tilts his head, pinches his nose, and covers his mouth with her own, filling his lungs with air. His lips are thin and cold. She repeats the process several times, like a machine. Up—inhale, down—exhale. Carefully, lest she accidentally overinflate his lungs.

But he still refuses to breathe on his own. She checks for a pulse again. It's gone. His heart has stopped.

Hanji blinks away the stinging in her eyes as her arms go numb. It can't end like this. She won't let it. She places the heel of her palm onto the center of his chest and pushes down, forcing his heart to beat. … 2… 3… 4… 5. She leans down again to bring their lips together and make him breathe. She compresses his heart a few more times, gives him air, and checks his pulse again. Still, there's nothing there. She shoves the heel of her hand into his chest again and again. Her own breath rattles in her throat. "Damn it, Levi. Don't you do this… don't you DARE do this…" Again, she checks for a pulse. Again, there's nothing. Her body shakes from a dry sob. "I'm not done with you yet, do you hear me?" Of course, Levi doesn't move. Hanji feels a void open up within her. A void that she may fall through.

Her hands tremble, and she narrows her eyes at the dead man before her: "YOU STILL HAVE A PROMISE TO KEEP, LEVI!" And she throws her palm out and smacks him clean across the face. His head snaps to the side, and she just as quickly grabs it up and tries mouth-to-mouth once more. She places her hands on his chest again, but before she can press down a sputter comes from Levi. He coughs weakly, and a spurt of blood trickles from the corner of his mouth. Hanji places her shaky fingers on his throat one last time and feels his pulse. The proof of his beating heart.

She heaves some air out of her lungs, a flood of tears streaming down her face. She finally notices the throbbing pain in her left leg. She can hardly move it. That hit from earlier must've torn several muscles, but she doesn't care. She grabs ahold of one of Levi's limp hands. It's cold. She sniffs loudly and the tears keep coming, but she can't stop the corners of her mouth from turning up. A clap of thunder rings in the distance as she throws her head back and lets out an ugly cry.

The sun sinks below the horizon, taking all of the light with it. The storm doesn't let up.

Hanji gathers herself after a few minutes. Levi remains unconscious next to her. The titans below are still clawing and stamping at the base of the tree. The rain doesn't bother them at all. _However_, Hanji thinks, _the setting sun will_. Titans can only last so long without sunlight before they become unresponsive. That's when she'll make her move.

But that would take hours, and her injured leg is already tightening with muscle damage. She rearranges herself, leaning against the tree's huge trunk with her legs stretched out in front of her. The tension in her bad leg lessens a bit. She runs a hand up and down her thigh and finds it sore to the touch. It's getting difficult to even wiggle her toes in her boots. She clicks her tongue and gazes out into the darkness of the storm. That damned aberrant really did a number on her. Not to mention Levi. That titan had become their downfall.

Wait. It hasn't yet, she reminds herself. They're still alive. They still have a chance, slim though it was.

A distant flash of lightning illuminates the world for a second. Her hands and pants match Levi's bandages—blackened with blood, both dried and not. In fact, from the glimpse she'd gotten of them, their uniforms were a mess. Hanji smiles as she thinks of all the expletives Levi would string together if he was awake and aware of it. She was sure there would be at least one "shit" per sentence. She spends the next few minutes pondering this before another flash of lightning and thunderclap pull her back into reality. The thoughts of Levi's clean habits and foul mouth are knocked out of her head for good.

The echo from the thunder settles around her, and a new sound creeps up from below. It doesn't bother her nearly as much as she thinks it should.

Hanji listens to one of the titans trying to climb her tree with eyes staring wide into the distance. She hears its fingers pulling at bark—the splintering of the wood. Eventually, there's a crunch and the titan falls with a hefty thud. It hadn't climbed very far. Not that she expected it to. Titans weren't known for their hand-eye coordination. The rain begins to lighten.

Not much longer now. In another hour or two, the lack of sunlight will leave the titans below unresponsive and immobile. Then they can make a run for it. It was dangerous enough to travel beyond the walls during the day, much less at night, but she has no choice. She has to get Levi back inside the walls as soon as possible. She doesn't know how long he'll last out here without proper treatment. He might not even make it long enough for her to _get_ him to the walls.

She shakes the thoughts from her head. He'll survive. She would make sure of it. Besides, Levi always had a knack for staying alive. She couldn't break his winning streak, could she?

A sigh comes from her chest and she leans her head back to rest against the trunk of the tree. When she does, a sharp pain immediately bursts above her ear. Her vision goes blurry for a moment. She reaches her hand up and gingerly touches the spot, wincing as she does so. Her hand comes back bloody. Looks like she wasn't just soaked with rain.

'When did that even happen?', she wonders. When she was trying to get Levi's gas canisters? She _had_ hit her head then… Everything is so foggy. How long has it been since the sun went down? She smears the blood onto her already reddened pants. Now her blood can mingle with Levi's.

She feels a trail of blood drip down her scalp and cheek. She must've aggravated the wound. It's so dark tonight. The rain has finally stopped, but the clouds continue to linger overhead. She hoped that they'd clear soon and reveal the moon. Anything to light their way. The titans below quieten with the rain. It won't be much longer. Soon enough. Her eyelids are so heavy. She can hardly keep them open.

Everything is covered in darkness.

A soft poke to her leg snaps everything back into focus. Her heart lurches, wide eyes already adjusted to the dim night. She'd almost fallen asleep. Her breath is heavy. If she'd fallen asleep they would both be dead. Sleeping after a head injury could've slipped her into a coma.

Levi's hand is sitting against her leg. He's still unconscious, so he must've had a twitch or muscle spasm that prodded her awake. Thank goodness. Subconscious teamwork at its finest.

How much time has passed? It's impossible to tell. Hanji sits in the quiet, listening for any movement from the horde of titans below. Several minutes tick by with nothing at all. Looks like the lack of sunlight has finally taken its toll and the horde has expended all of its energy.

She brings her attention up and peers through the many leaves of the giant tree. There's still a soft breeze rustling through them, so every now and then a few stars will poke through. Further away from the tree, she can see more stars and empty sky. The sky is clearest towards the South. She can even pick out a constellation shaped like a teapot. Soon.

The next few moments pass with nothing but the sounds of light wind and heavy breaths.

With the clouds overhead dissipated at last, Hanji can clearly see the brilliant splash of stars across the sky. She figures that it's at least midnight. There's no moon. Her eyes are as adjusted as they'll ever be. She hopes the bright band of stars will be enough to cut through both the sky and the darkness. It's collective, dim light is enough to give her surroundings a hazy silhouette, at least.

Hanji's hands swiftly move to readjust the straps and bindings around Levi's unconscious body. In a few minutes she has him hoisted and latched onto her back. His head lolls precariously across her shoulder, but his feet can't even scrape the ground when she stands. His breath is quiet and shallow near her ear.

She brings her gear controls into a firm grip. Still no sounds coming from the horde of titans below.

It's now or never.

Using the gear, she carefully and slowly lowers herself and Levi to the ground—out of arm's reach of the titans, just in case. Her good leg supports most of their combined weight as she lands on the grass.

Then she walks.

Or limps, rather.

She moves quickly at first. The fear of one of the titans taking a swipe at them sends the adrenaline to her head. After a few minutes, though, her bad leg begins to protest the exertion. Hanji's movements become slower and slower, but still she doesn't stop. She keeps limping towards the light of the Wall. Once they're back inside those walls, she can rest.

Every now and then her injured leg doesn't cooperate and she stumbles. Eventually, she gets tangled in her own legs and falls to her knees. The ground is still wet from the previous rain, and it seeps through her pants. She ignores it and keeps going—for long, dragging minutes. Maybe even an hour or two. Her stumbling becomes more frequent. She keeps walking. More time crawls by.

She can feel the muscles in her good leg twisting and pulling out of shape. How long has she been walking? There's no moon in the sky to even shed some light upon their surroundings, let alone hint at the time. Oh, well. It doesn't really matter. She doubted her mind was clear enough to calculate it anyway. The aching wound on her head made everything so foggy. The only things keeping her grounded in consciousness are the pain in her legs and Levi's slow heartbeat against her back. She has to keep going. What would she do if an abnormal showed up? She doesn't want to think of it.

Her pants are soaked through from all the times she's fallen into the wet grass, and the moisture gives her a chill in the cool breeze. She shivers a bit, which causes her legs to seize up again, and she and Levi go tumbling to the ground. Her face lands in the wet earth, smearing it with mud. She can hardly catch her breath from being sandwiched between Levi's dead weight and the ground.

But she can't stop. She knows that. Her fingers coil around the slick grass as she tries to hoist herself up, but her legs refuse to cooperate. She can only lift herself a few inches before collapsing yet again.

Clenching her teeth, she takes in a breath and tries again. Her arms shriek and tremble in protest. This time she manages to nearly straighten her arms, but before she can gather her bearings, her elbows wobble and give out. Her face slams into the muck. Levi's bandaged head bounces lifelessly off of her shoulder blade. Maybe she can afford to take a short break. It's not like she has much of a choice.

Minutes tick by. Some feeling returns to her arms—strength to her aching muscles. Her breathing synchronizes with Levi's. His heartbeat slowly pounds against her back. The heat from his body contradicts the cold mud beneath her. It keeps her level. She pulls her foggy mind back to consciousness. As she lifts her head her wound throbs. The world swims away for a moment, but she catches it before her face falls back into the mud. She takes a second to wipe the grime from her glasses with her equally dirty fingers.

Her teeth grit together as she digs her fingers into the grass. She has to keep going. It's been long enough already.

Then she feels it. Beneath her submerged fingers, the ground vibrates. The rumble passes through her body and disappears into Levi. Her breath halts in her throat and her body turns to stone. A few seconds later, another rumble courses through her. She can feel it in the earth. Her ears start ringing.

"No," she whispers. Her eyes moisten, but she doesn't have the strength to produce any tears. Another bump in the ground. Something's coming. A titan that continues moving through the dark while the rest of its kind are stilled. An abnormal.

The next thing Hanji knows, she's on her feet. Her bad leg nearly buckles under her, but the cold fear burning through her keeps it moving. She takes it one step at a time. Limping, but moving. She goes as fast as her body will allow. It's difficult to keep her balance with Levi still strapped to her back. The ground rumbles again beneath her feet. Air sears through her throat. The uneven terrain squashes under her boots. She keeps her eyes focused ahead of her. She doesn't even want to turn round and look. She's afraid of how close it might be.

It could be right behind her, reaching for them now. As long as she doesn't look, it could still be far, far away. A speck in the ever-expanding dark.

The muscles in her legs scream as she hobbles forward. The dim lights from behind Wall Rose grow in the distance. The further she goes, the more she wants to give up… but the light at the horizon keeps her moving. That, and the occasional thump in the ground signaling the approaching aberrant.

After a few minutes, she feels the tendons in her leg start to tense and constrict. Her leg's about to cramp up again, but she can't afford to collapse now. Her eyes search the dark, but there's nothing around. Nothing but the gloom and pale lights from beyond the wall. She forces a breath through her clenched teeth. She can't stop. It's not an option. Her boots dig into the mud and grass as she trudges.

She shrugs her shoulders, adjusting the straps that bind Levi to her back. The movement places his chest flush against her shoulder blade, and she can clearly feel the slow beating of his heart. As if she needed another reminder. She can't give up. She can't stop. She has to make it. _They_ have to make it.

Then her breath stalls. Her feet falter as her eyes catch silhouettes protruding from the ground. For a split second she thinks it's another titan and her heart stops, but then she notices that it's not moving. She squints her eyes until she can make out the inorganic, boxy shapes. "Buildings!" she whispers. According to her memory, there's a cluster of buildings around a kilometer from the wall. The remains of an old, abandoned farm. Hanji smiles. They're almost there.

But another loud thump from behind makes that smile fade. Almost wasn't safe. She can't let her guard down now. Not with an aberrant tailing them. Not outside the walls. She narrows her eyes and fumbles with the controls to her maneuver gear. In the Survey Corps, the mission isn't over until they're back inside the walls. She knows that, and prepares herself. With a quick tug at her shoulder straps to make sure they'd hold, she aims her hips at two of the distant buildings and pulls the release triggers.

The spools of metal spring out into the darkness, and Hanji hears the definitive _thunk_ of the hooks digging into the stone walls. She doesn't give it another thought before pulling the next set of triggers. The wires grow taut and yank both her and Levi through the cool night air. The rush of wind feels amazing against her mud and sweat-drenched face. She allows her legs to go almost limp as they soar, giving her aching muscles a break. The pins and needles start, but she doesn't care. When the wires begin to part, she pulls another pair of triggers to release the hooks and fully reel the wires in. Now it's just her, Levi, and their momentum. They aren't flying anymore—they're falling. Falling forward, but still falling. Hanji can barely make out how far they are from the ground. She braces herself for the impact, whenever it decides to come.

But she still wasn't ready. It was unthinkable that her legs would be able to carry both her and Levi's weight as they came crashing to the ground.

Her good leg hits first, boot slipping on the wet grass and flying out from beneath her. Her bad leg crumples as soon as it meets the earth. Their bodies slam hard into the ground. The momentum keeps them going forward, rolling and toppling over each other. Hanji lands face down, lungs crunched beneath Levi's dead weight, and then they tumble further, bouncing onto their sides. Still, they keep going. Levi takes the brunt of the fall and Hanji's weight collapses on top of him. Another of his ribs snaps beneath her. She swears as they keep rolling. Finally, the straps binding them together break and they're separated. Hanji grabs at the air behind her but Levi's already too far out of reach. She pulls her maneuver gear parallel to her body so it doesn't break off as well. She hits the ground one last time. The injured side of her head knocks against the maneuver gear and white stars burst into her vision. They come to a stop in a patch of wet grass that soaks completely through her uniform. Tears spill down her cheek and the world spins back into focus.

Her breath is fast as she gazes at the now clear sky. She turns her head towards where she heard Levi fall. He's lying face down—still unconscious. She groans and flops onto her elbows. It's a slow crawl without the use of her legs. As she reaches him, she flips him over and checks his pulse. It drums faintly against her fingertips. He's still alive. She allows herself a sigh of relief.

That sigh saps all of the energy out of her. She's exhausted. Her head is throbbing. She can feel fresh blood trickling down her scalp and through her hair. Hitting the maneuver gear must've reopened her wound. Everything is so foggy. All she wants to do is sleep. Her arms sag and her head drops onto Levi's shoulder. His chest is moving fast. She can hear his straining heartbeat. She hopes to keep it beating—in a bit. Just a while longer…

Hanji spends an indefinite amount of time floating in that haze.

When she forces herself to sit up, she realizes that the straps around Levi's body are completely broken and unusable. There's no easy way to carry him now that she can't tie him to her back. She sighs and goes to stand, but her legs can no longer hold her own weight. All of the strength in them is gone. She can get to her knees, and nothing more. She throws her fist into the mud with a groan. This isn't going to be simple.

Leaning over Levi's body, she scoops an arm beneath him and flips him onto her back. With a little arranging, she gets his arms around her neck and his head on the back of her shoulder. His legs drag uselessly at her sides, almost as useless as her own legs. She feels the first vibrations of the aberrant catching up to them. There's nothing for it. She lets gravity hold them together and starts crawling on her hands and knees through the slick grass. Her knees are soaked before she even begins. She stares straight ahead at the faint light shining behind Wall Rose. The image is broken through her cracked glasses, but it's still there. She moves towards it with all of her might.

Levi begins to slip down on her left, and she raises her hip to throw him back into place. The quick movement sears through her entire leg. She has to bite back a yelp.

After a few minutes of agonizing crawling, along with constantly keeping Levi from slipping off, her hand finds a jagged rock that cuts deep into the skin. She pulls a breath through her teeth, tears stinging in her eyes, but she keeps going. Even with every inch caking more mud and grass into the wound, she keeps crawling. Her knees find the occasional rock as well. In the dark, it's impossible for her to tell if her pants are blackened from dirt or blood. She pays it no mind and continues clawing her way towards the wall.

The aberrant's footsteps travel through the ground and into her bleeding hands. Every few seconds it's as if the whole ground is shaking. She doesn't let up.

Her leg is becoming more and more useless. She practically has to drag it along with Levi's dead weight. She grips the wet grass tighter as she presses on, digging her fingers into the trembling earth. The aberrant is getting closer. She can feel its thunderous footfalls beneath her, growing stronger. Her breath screams through clenched teeth. The titan could catch up with them any minute now. Another sharp rock pierces the skin of her palm as she crawls with every ounce of her power.

After a few more meters, the pain in her leg reaches a fever pitch before it seizes up completely. Her muscles turn to stone and send bolts of pain throughout the rest of her body. She shouts and collapses onto her side. Levi's unconscious body slips from her back and drops beside her in the grass. She runs her mangled hands over her leg in an attempt to get some relief, but it doesn't help. The pain only lessens to a dull throb and her muscles remain locked. Her leg is now truly useless, as she can no longer move it at all. Tears prick at the corners of her eyes and she lays her head back onto the ground. The stars above her spin around in her vision. She closes her eyes to keep from throwing up. Just for a moment.

A jarring quake in the ground brings her back to attention. Did she black out? How long have they been lying there?

More importantly, how close was the aberrant?

She doesn't think about it for a second longer. She shakes off the cloudiness in her head and flips over onto her stomach. Another thump comes from behind her, but she pays it no mind. Grabbing ahold of Levi's cloak, she hooks her arms beneath his and drags him under her. She can barely stay upright due to her leg. There's another loud footstep. She fumbles for the controls to her maneuver gear and holds Levi tightly to her. One more heavy thud sounds in her ears as she pulls the trigger and the hooks shoot out.

It's a literal shot in the dark, and Hanji has no idea if they're close enough to the wall to connect to it, nor if there are any more buildings or trees to help propel them. After a second, the hooks catch nothing but the ground, and she and Levi are pulled violently through grass, mud, and rocks. It takes all of Hanji's strength to not let Levi slip from her grasp. Another, larger rock comes slamming against her left arm and she feels it snap. A strangled cry comes from her throat but she refuses to let go of Levi. Her muscles strain and fray within her arms. It is only when the wire is finally finished reeling that Hanji allows herself to release him. It feels like it takes centuries. She's sure that her gas is pretty much depleted now. And after all of the trouble she'd gone through to salvage it, too. She jiggles one of the canisters, just to make sure. Whatever is left isn't enough to do them any good. She disconnects her gear and lets it fall. It clatters down into a defeated heap.

Her chest deflates with a sigh. Crawling any further is out of the question. Walking, even more so. Is there nothing left for her to do? Her body sways and she flops onto her back. She can feel Levi's cold body next to her. His breath is weak and shallow. He can't take much more of this. Hell, neither can she. She can't even move.

Her eyes go back to the sky. The stars are still spinning, but unlike last time, they aren't nauseating. They're mesmerizing. Her vision blurs as tears well up and fall back into her hair. The thumping returns, faster than ever. Hanji smiles as the aberrant approaches. The stars are beautiful.

But eventually her view of the sky is obscured by a thick shadow towering above her. Finally, the titan has caught up with them. Her fingers find the dirtied fabric of Levi's cloak and tighten around it. More tears spill from her eyes, but her sobs are light like laughter. She can feel the heat radiating off of the titan's skin. The steam from its gaping mouth. From its silhouette she can see that its arms are disproportionately large compared to the rest of its body. Her scientist's mind can only wonder why.

The silhouette moves and Hanji is sure that she sees one of the titan's bulging arms reach for them. There's a flash like lightning. The ground rumbles against their backs. "I'm so sorry, Levi."

There's more rumbling. Hanji doesn't notice it. She feels the aberrant's fingertips graze her legs and a loud crunching comes from above her. Her eyes blink as the stars come back into focus. The aberrant is gone. Her mind becomes even more clouded. The ground shakes with an explosive power.

More thumps reverberate through her body, but slower this time. Strange noises ring in her ears. Quieter than the previous blast. Higher pitched. Voices?

Yes, they're voices. She's sure of it, but her brain cannot understand the words. Still, they're awfully familiar sounding. They're talking to her, but she cannot respond because she is unable to comprehend.

They're trying to pull something out of her hands, but she refuses to let go.

Finally, the voices quiet down a bit. Two large hands slip beneath her and Levi and carefully hoist them into the air. Their touch is warm. The thumping returns as they move high above the ground. The cool breeze feels nice against her sweat and blood-slicked face. Perhaps she didn't need to be sorry after all. The further they go, the more the light pollution corrupts her view of the stars, but she doesn't care.

At last, Hanji lets herself fall into the darkness, comforted by the safe and gentle swaying of the pair of giant hands.

XX

**Author's Notes—**(Lifts laptop into the sky) It's done… It's finally done!

This oneshot has been months and _months_ in the making—also, about a year since I first thought of it! Yikes! That doesn't mean that I've worked that _hard_ on it, but I've worked that _slowly_ on it. I certainly have my reasons, but only a handful of them are any good… Anyway. It's pretty long, yeah?

Most importantly: I have to give credit. This fic was heavily inspired by (or at least by my memory of) a _brilliant _Inuyasha fanfiction I read many, many years ago called _On the Night of the New Moon_ by BlackMamba07. They've since deleted all of their works from _everywhere_ so good luck finding it. That is, if anyone's even the least bit interested. I've never read a fic that pulled me into a trance like that one did. Seriously, it was that good. You kids today don't even know. I'll just sigh about the loss forever, I guess.

Anyway—I have the skeleton of an epilogue for this right now, but I haven't decided yet if it would be worth finishing. It would be _much_ shorter than the original, in any case. So there's that.

Lastly, thanks for reading! Impressions, critiques, and incredulous stares are always welcome. LeviHan 5ever. Etc.

**Behold my lackluster contribution to the SnK fandom,**

_**-Destiny**_


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